Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-02-17
ADULTERATED SPICES.
Ground Olive Kernels Sent from Italy tt
Mix with Pepper.

grocery trade Of this city are excited at
the discovery of a new adulterant in
the market. An offer from Italy to a
responsible house to supply it with
substance called "pepperette at
cheap rate, for the purpose of mixing
with black and white pepper, thereby
greatly reducing the cost, has led to
the exposure. Good pepper has been
recently quoted in the Liverpool mar
ket at from 81 to 80 cents per pound,
wholesale, or from $400 to 5000 per ton,
while the adulterant has been offered at
f8 or $40 per ton, freight paid to Liv-
erpool at p per cent. off for cash. This
difference in price furnished a great
temptation, especially when the adul-
terant is guaranteed to absorb the
piquancy of the pepper with which it is
mixed, and thus defy detection in any
ordinary way. An investigation of the
matter has led to the discovery that
this new pepperette is nothing more
than ground olive kernels. As
the Italian olives are used in
large numbers for the making of
olive or salad oil, the refuse after the
oil is pressed out has heretofore been
found almost, if not quite, valueless.
An experiment was made with the ker-
nels, and it was found that when ground
they greatly resembled ground pepper.
1t was then ascertained that when
mixed with pepper the ground olive
kernels would so absorb the peculiari-
ties of the genuine article that the MKT
ure could not be detected. BY pro-
cess the color of adulterating matter
can be made very light. so as to agree
with the shade of the whitest of the
peppers, also dark enough for the ordi.
nary plack pepper. The manufactur-
ers of the vile stuff, in their private
communication to the trade-for they
take the precaution to make their COM
munications confidential, guaranteeing
that no one else in the trade shall
know that any special house is among
their dealers-say that the pepperette
is warranted to consist of a purely
vegetable substance, and to contain
nothing deleterious, and consequently
in no way detrimental to the health.
Of course olive kernels are vegetable,
but it is not at all likely that consum-
ers of pepper will feel inclined to sprin-
kle ground olive kernels voluntarily
over the food they may eat.
But pepper is not the only spice that
has been found to have had adultera.
tions. When ground it is difficult tc
trace the deception. The wooden nut
meg is nothing to the tricks that have
been detected with ground spices. Il
is said by one who has had a good op
portunity for knowing that thousands
of tons of burned and ground cocoanu
shells and other foreign substance
have been favored with essential oil
and then sold for pure spices. In fac
it has become regular business t.
manufacture and sell these impurities
Dishonest traders, taking advantage o
their facilities for mixing the pure an,
good with valueless trash, are enabled
to undersell the honest dealers, carin:
little whether in doing so they ar
running the digestion of men, womel
and children, all of whom use spices II
this season of the year. 1t is only tn
high-priced spices that are found to b
adulterated; for the matter is now be
ing closely Investigated by the variou
State Boards of Health. The analys
of the Massachusetts State Board o
Health ascertained that, out of twenty
eight samples of black pepper eS
amined, nineteen were adulterated
and of sixty samples of white pepper
thirty-nine were found to have the vii
stuff mixed. These figures show t
what an extent the Italian must hav
quietly advertised his trash, and tn
number of dishonest traders who hav
been found ready to purchase it. Tn
New York State Board of Health is al
so engaged in making Investigations
, N. Y. Mail and Express.